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Welcome to PSR's Environmental Health Policy
Institute, where we ask questions -- then we ask the experts to
answer them. Join us as physicians, health professionals,
and environmental health experts share their ideas, inspiration, and
analysis about toxic chemicals and environmental health policy.

Over the past 40 years, since the 1973 Arab oil embargo, renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies have slowly emerged to become major players in the nation's energy mix. Read more »3 comment(s)

Over the past several years there have been over 25 studies which, in aggregate, conclude that the USA and the entire planet could meet most or all of its energy from a combination of already-commercialized ‘high value’ energy efficiency and renewable energy. Read more »2 comment(s)

Accidents can and do happen at nuclear reactors. The March 2011 nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan provides important lessons regarding the danger to public safety and the need for evacuation zones around nuclear reactors that are appropriate given the populations who are at risk of injury and death. Read more »

From the beginning of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, the public was told repeatedly by industry spokesmen and government officials that the radiation discovered in the air, drinking water and food was “safe” or that it did not pose a threat to public health. This unfortunately is not true. Read more »5 comment(s)

Most people haven’t heard of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA, pronounced “Oh-EYE-ra”), a little-known division of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. Read more »1 comment(s)

As physicians and other health professionals, we have a unique opportunity to combine awareness of science with our professional experience by advocating to the EPA that it uphold its mission. Read more »

The public is exposed to numerous environmental chemicals, often at levels associated with adverse reproductive and developmental outcomes, such as effects on the developing brain including ADHD and IQ decrements, and childhood obesity. Read more »1 comment(s)

In the past few years, EPA efforts to set pollution standards that protect public health and the environment have come under increasing attack from industry lobbyists and their allies in Congress. Read more »

With the issuance in August of the fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas standards for cars for model years 2017-2025, the Obama Administration may have now put forth the last major Environmental Protection Agency rule of its term. Read more »3 comment(s)

Posted by
Alan Lockwood, MD FAAN and Barbara Gottlieb
on
August 20, 2012

Fine particulate matter, consisting of airborne particles with a diameter of 2.5 microns contributes to the four leading causes of death in the United States: heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, and stroke or cerebrovascular disease. Read more »

Increasing fire activity is occurring across large parts of the planet. Whether due to wildfires or managed “control burns,” fires result in increased release of particulate matter (PM) that has a negative impact on human health. Read more »17 comment(s)

Researchers from EPA have estimated that over 100,000 people die prematurely each year in the US due to particulate matter (PM) exposure, and reductions in PM pollution during the 1980s and 1990s have been associated with as much as 15% of the increase in life expectancy in the US during that period. Read more »2 comment(s)